Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen. The king's name was Hring, and the queen had such an outlandish name that it was difficult to even pronounce. They had a son - the beautiful and brave Prince Hlini. In this same kingdom, on the shore of a deep lake, there stood a dilapidated shack in which a poor hunter lived with his sick wife and beautiful daughter Signy.
One day the prince went with his friends to hunt in the forest. Having gotten excited, he went so deep into the thicket that he did not notice how he had lost his comrades. And when I came to my senses, it was already dark, and nothing was visible.
At this time, his upset comrades returned home and informed the king that the prince had disappeared. The saddened parents immediately announced everywhere that whoever found Prince Hlini and returned him to the palace would receive half the kingdom. For three days, hundreds of the best hunters with greyhounds searched every corner of the protected forest, but it was all in vain - the prince disappeared without a trace.
Soon the news of the missing young heir reached the poor hunter's hut. Signy wrapped a piece of bread in a bundle, put thick-soled boots on her feet and went in search. She walked for a long time or a short time and finally came to a dense forest. At the edge of the forest there was a deep, deep cave. Signy, without thinking twice, boldly stepped into the depths. And what did she see there?
There were two huge beds inside. The cover on one of them was made of pure silver, and on the other it shimmered with gold. The pillows were made of sky blue silk, and snow-white swans were woven across it with a thin downy thread. Strange words were written around them. Fascinated by such beauty, Signy stood motionless, and suddenly, looking closely, she saw a sleeping prince on one of the beds. It was Hlini! She rushed to him and began to disturb him with all her might, but Hlini was sleeping soundly. Suddenly a noise was heard outside, and Signy barely had time to hide behind the door when two terrible witches burst into the cave. One of them, stretching her nose, screamed in an eerie voice:
- Phew, smells like the human spirit!
The young witch objected to her:
- What are you talking about, this is our little prince.
Then they approached the bed on which Hlini was sleeping serenely and shouted:
Wake up, wake up,
You've been sleeping for so long already
But a new day has come.
The swans woven on the pillows suddenly came to life and began to sing, and Prince Hlini opened his eyes. Then the young witch ran up to him and asked:
- Prince, are you hungry?
“No, witch, I don’t want to,” answered the prince.
“Prince,” the witch asked again, “will you marry me?”
- No, witch, I won’t marry.
The witch actually turned green with anger and shouted:
Go to sleep, go to sleep
And don't annoy me.
The swans sang again, and Hlini fell asleep again. The witches had a hearty dinner and, having settled comfortably on the silver bed, also fell asleep.
In the morning, barely waking up, the young witch again ran up to the prince and shouted:
Wake up, wake up,
You've been sleeping for so long already
But a new day has come.
The swans began to sing and the prince woke up.
– Do you want to eat? – the witch asked him.
The prince refused.
-Will you marry me? – she asked again.
And the prince refused again. The enraged witch ordered the swans to sing a sleepy song and put the prince to sleep, and she and her old mother flew away on business.
As soon as they disappeared, poor little Signy, trembling with fear, ran out of her hiding place and, approaching the prince, whispered the magic words:
Wake up, wake up,
You've been sleeping for so long already
But a new day has come.
The snow-white swans began to sing, and the prince woke up. He was terribly surprised: instead of an ugly, dirty, ugly witch, he saw an amazing beauty in front of him. Signy told him who she was, and he told her about his misadventures: how he was caught and bewitched by two witches, dragged to their cave and tried to force him to marry one of them.
“This is what we will do,” Signy told the prince. “When the witches fly here and ask you if you want to eat and if you will marry one of them, you agree to everything, but first demand that they tell you what is written on these silk pillows and what they do all day in the forest.”
Hlini promised to do everything exactly as Signy ordered. They had a fun time playing chess, and when evening came, Signy put the prince to sleep and, hiding behind the door, began to wait. Soon the witches returned. They lit a fire, prepared food and, waking up the prince, began again asking him about food and marriage. To their great surprise, the prince meekly answered: “Yes.” But at the end he added that he would definitely like to know what was written on his silk pillow.
“It’s a spell,” answered the witch. – If you say twice: “Hey, bed, fly away and pick me up,” then the bed will become like a magic carpet airplane and take you wherever you want.
The prince thanked her and asked:
-What do you do in the forest all day?
And the witch answered:
“We hunt, and then we rest under an old oak tree and guard our egg of life.
-What is this? – asked Hlini.
“This egg contains our lives, and if it breaks, we will die.”
The prince pretended to be terribly tired and went to bed. The witches put him to sleep, and, having had a hearty dinner, they also went to bed. In the morning they woke up and immediately went into the forest.
Little Signy ran out of her hiding place, woke up the prince and said:
- Take your bow and arrows, let's quickly run into the forest. You must destroy this egg, otherwise the witches will kill us.
The prince took his bow, sat Signy on the bed and said:
Hey bed, fly away
And take me away.
Before he had time to finish speaking, the bed, along with the bedspread and silk pillows, was in the air, and not a minute had passed before it found itself on the top of an old oak tree. Signy and the prince quickly jumped down and hid in the branches. From above they could clearly see the witches who were guarding their egg. The prince took aim and, pulling the bowstring tightly, shot at the egg, which immediately shattered into thousands of small pieces. The lifeless witches fell to the foot of the oak tree. The prince picked up Signy, sat her on the magic bed, and they flew to the palace.
Overjoyed, the king and queen immediately married them in the palace church. Mother Signy was cured, and her father was settled in the castle and made the royal huntsman.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru